Roasted Lemon Garlic Herb Shrimp

Last night's dinner was alright.  Something tasted off with the shrimp, and I'm thinking it was the thyme, but I am not quite sure.  Couldn't quite put my finger on it.  Robert just didn't like it that much because of the lemons (he doesn't like the taste of lemons), which I loved (the lemons... not that Robert didn't like it that much).  It was pretty quick to make, which was nice.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 c. olive oil
• 1 lemon (skin the lemon using a cheese grater, cut half of the lemon in thin slices and the other half in wedges)
• 3-4 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves removed (I couldn't find any so I just used the leaves... maybe that's why it tasted off)
• salt
• pepper
• rice/pasta (I used the rice)
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 pound fresh shrimp, tails off and deveined
• 5 cloves of garlic

Preheat the oven to 400 F°.  Put the olive oil in an 8x8 glass pan.  Add the lemon zest and the thyme sprigs.  Season it with salt and pepper.  Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes.  Check every few minutes to make sure it isn't turning too brown.  Pull out if it is.  You can start cooking your pasta/rice while you wait.  After 10-12 minutes, take the pan out and add the butter.  Spread the butter around to let it melt.  Add the shrimp, garlic, and thin slices of lemon (without squeezing them).  Mix it all up to get the oil on the shrimp.  Bake for another 8-10 minutes until the shrimp turn pink and they start to curl.  Then you can serve it over your pasta/rice.  You can also squeeze fresh lemon using the lemon wedges on top of your shrimp.

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Chicken Enchilada Pasta

Day 2 of my new recipes.  Last night I tried making Chicken Enchilada Pasta, and to be honest, it wasn't very good.  It wasn't nasty, but it wasn't my favorite thing in the world.  Here's the recipe if any of you want to try it.  Robert thought it was alright as well.  He thought it tasted just fine, he just thought it was weird on top of pasta.  He thinks the sauce would be good to use in tortillas.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 chicken breasts
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 medium onion
• 1 medium red pepper
• 1 (4 oz.) can diced green chilies
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 2 (10 oz.) cans green chili enchilada sauce
• 2/3 c. red enchilada sauce
• 2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 c. sour cream
• penne pasta

First, cook the chicken (I boiled it in water), then shred the chicken.  While you wait for your chicken to cook, you can cook the pasta, dice the onions, mince the garlic, and cut up the red pepper.  In a separate pan (preferably a deep skillet), add the olive oil and heat, then add the onions.  Let the onions cook for 3-5 minutes, then add the garlic and red pepper.  Cook for 3-5 minutes as well.  After that, you add the shredded chicken, green chilies, cumin, chili powder, salt, and enchilada sauces.  Simmer for about 8-10 minutes.  After it's finished simmering, add the cheese and stir until the cheese is melted.  Next, add the sour cream, but don't let it boil because it will curdle, so just cook it on low heat.  Stir until the sour cream is mixed in and heated. After that, you are done!  Just drain the noodles and serve up.  You can add toppings like green onions, tomatoes, and a little bit of sour cream.

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Chicken Salsa Ranch Wraps

Okay, I finally made a meal off of Pinterest.  I made the Chicken Salsa Ranch Wraps, and loved them!  Not only were they fast and easy to make, but they tasted so good!

Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken breasts, cut into strips
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 c. salsa
• 1/4 c. ranch dressing
• tortillas
• shredded cheese
• lettuce
• red bell pepper, diced/cubed or however big you want them haha

First, heat (medium-high) a skillet and pour in a little bit of oil. Add in the strips of chicken and season with salt and pepper.  Cook while stirring occasionally until the chicken is cooked through.  Add the salsa and ranch.  Continue to cook until bubbly.

After that, you can serve the chicken onto your tortilla.  I used a griddle to warm up my tortillas and put the cheese on top so it melted, then put my chicken on.  I added the lettuce and red bell peppers and voila!  You've got yourself a delicious wrap.  Who knew salsa and ranch mixed together would taste so good?  Not me.

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The 24th

Okay, I haven't made any recipes that I said I would yet because we got a lot of leftovers from Sunday dinner at Robert's parent's house, which we ate Monday, and yesterday we were out celebrating Pioneer Day in Springville/Mapleton, so I didn't make any of the recipes I said I would yet.  But, tonight's the night.

In Utah, we have the opportunity to celebrate Pioneer Day, acknowledging our ancestors in their sacrifices to cross the plains and settle here in Utah.  Robert and I woke up at the crack of dawn (okay, not really) to leave for Mapleton to watch the parade.  I have gone almost every year since moving back to the United States because my grandparents live in Mapleton.  A lot the cousins and aunts and uncles come, and it's just something fun to do.  Usually we go to the little carnival at the park, but this year we didn't go (we, meaning the older kids.  The younger kids went with my uncles and aunts).

 This reminds me of Cinderella!

 Unicorns do exist.

 This is a mint truck.  You can't really tell in the picture.

 The "drill team"

Steiner's flower shop was a part of the parade, and they handed carnations out.  I decided to turn mine into a different color.  I was going for a "midnight" color, but it turned out mint.  I'm not sure if it's cuz it has to soak forever, or if that's as much color as it soaks up.

Later that night, we went to the Mapleton firework show at Ira Allen park.  In years past we would either watch on our deck, or we'd watch from the old highway in Mapleton, but last year we decided to watch it at the park, and I loved it.  I love it because you get to just lay down, and the fireworks blow up right over you.  Sometimes it's too bright so it hurts my eyes, but still, I love it.  This year no one went in my family besides Robert and me, and my sisters.  It was lame.  I still had a good time though with Robert and my friends, Howard and Emily (my sisters didn't come till later, and when they did, they ran off to find their friends).

 Being creepers

 Howard and Emily

 

Beauty in the Eyes of God

This morning around I think 5:20, I felt something crawling on my arm, so I sat up and wiped it off with my hand.  There was definitely a body.  My sudden movement woke Robert up, and I said, "Something was crawling on my arm!"  There's no way I'd be able to sleep without checking the bed, so on the light switch went.  It wasn't long before I spotted the bed intruder (ha ha... it climbed in our window, but didn't snatch us up).  No, it wasn't a spider thank goodness.  Just an earwig.  I got up, got some tissue paper, grabbed the body, and down the toilet it went.  After that, I got in bed, but I just couldn't sleep!  My eyes were burning because I wasn't finished with my sleep, but my mind kept thinking and thinking and thinking.  I hate it when that happens.  Your body is just dead tired, but your mind keeps your body from sleeping.  I thought about a lot of things, but one thing I thought about was a conversation I had with one of my friends a couple of times.  She has been down a lot lately because she doesn't believe she's pretty (but she totally is), and she looks at girls around her and feels even worse because they're pretty and "she's not".  I honestly didn't know what to say to console her because to be honest, I have that same problem.  I don't get as sad or as down as she does, but I still feel that way a lot. 
My hair is a frizzy mess. My hair won't stay the way I want it to, even after spending hours on it.
My teeth aren't perfectly straight, nor are they bleach white.
My eyelashes are like Snuffaluffagus' from Sesame Street: stick straight, and downwards.
My skin is yellow and sometimes I look unhealthy.
There are bags under my eyes.
I'm too underweight.
And the list goes on.

It's too bad we let Satan get into our minds and allow him to make us believe we are ugly and worthless.  I don't even have a reason to think this way.  I have a husband who loves me and tells me almost every day how pretty I am.  Most importantly, I have a Heavenly Father and Savior who love me no matter what I look like. They are the ones that created me.  They look at all their creations as magnificent.

Way back when I was still in Young Women's, our leaders gave us a handout.  I don't remember anything said in the lesson, but I always remember the handout (okay, sometimes when I am looking at myself in the mirror I don't remember, but I try).

Right after church, I took that handout and stuck it on the side of my bathroom mirror.  This handout reminds me of the scripture from 1 Samuel: "But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord ^aseeth not as ^bman seeth; for man looketh on the outward ^cappearance, but the ^dLord looketh on the ^eheart."  Every time I look in the mirror, I am going to put on the glasses which allow me to see myself as Christ sees me: a beloved daughter of God whose beauty comes from the heart.

Poem for Friday

Take away my boredom
Please don't make me stay
I really want to leave
Today is Friday.

That right there was inspiration for today.  Made it up in 5 seconds. I still have 1 1/2 hours left of work.  The end.

Only I wish that said "No Work Today!"

Meals&Organization.

I feel like I need to be better at organizing meals.  I don't like thinking an entire day about what to have for dinner, then getting home and feeling like there is nothing in our house (when really, there are things I could use to whip something up) and then feeling too lazy to try and figure stuff out.  So last night (as I was trying to figure out what to eat for dinner), I sat down, looked on Pinterest, and planned dinners for next week.  Hooray!  I can't wait to try the new recipes out.  Robert's not so thrilled.  He's more of a steak-and-potatoes-every-stinking-night kind of guy.  I, on the other hand, need a little more of variety.  So we're branching out whether he likes it or not!  I will have to critique each meal next week and if I like it, I will post the recipe on here for anyone else who would like to try.  Maybe I will critique it even if it's bad and post the recipe, in case it sounds/looks good to anyone else.  That way, people get recipes, and I have stuff to write about on my blog.  Teehee. :P

Funny Ads/Newspaper Clippings

 Dental snacks for dogs for preventing bad breath.

Listerine Mouthwash

Rowenta vacuum

I like how a baby is there to. Ha.

Yup. Great for parades!

Time management, yet we don't know what time we're gonna start exactly.

Glad they're not watery.

Hm.  I think I'll go with regular.

Eccountability?

I would like to see a demo.  I have no idea how to use toilet paper.